


Just to See You Smile

by james



Category: Leverage, Torchwood
Genre: Children of Earth Compliant, M/M, canon character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-12
Updated: 2010-05-12
Packaged: 2017-10-09 10:15:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/86140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/james/pseuds/james
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ianto Jones meets Eliot Spencer.  More than once.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just to See You Smile

The first time Ianto met him, he'd been sent to pick up a package. He'd been the most junior member of the department present in the office that day -- Maggie had rung in sick, else she would be the one running errands all the way to the other side of London. But with her out it fell to Ianto, so he'd simply nodded and gone.

His instructions were simple. Payment was already taken care of, made by remote when he rang the office to let them know he had the item in his hands. He was to make sure it was genuine, then bring it back.

No one had told him the man bringing the item in would stare at him like _that_ or smile at him when he'd verified the money was in his account. Ianto had shivered, but smiled in return and as he'd turned to leave he'd looked back over his shoulder.

He'd opened his mouth to call back his name, before stopping himself from being completely stupid and juvenile. But that was all right, because he'd gotten to watch the other man walk away, tight jeans and short-waisted jacket giving Ianto a very lovely view indeed.

~~~

The second time he'd been slammed against a wall.

Ianto was walking out of the cafe, cup in hand and certainly minding his own business. Then hands had grabbed him and shoved him against the wall -- then there was a mouth on his, Ianto could scarcely think. He hadn't intended to grab on with his free hand and pull the man closer, but he did and he felt a soft vibration, like a chuckle.

After a moment the man pulled away and Ianto recognised him -- he'd brought back a Tellrifian Dagometer that Torchwood had tried to track down for a year after it had gone missing. This man had apparently retrieved it in only two days; the Acquisitions Department liked to talk about him in hushed whispers. Ianto had no idea what his name was, as Acquisitions only referred to him as Mr. Johnson (#3).

"Sorry," he said, giving Ianto that incredible, spine-melting smile. "Had to avoid getting seen."

"Well, you failed miserably," Ianto found himself saying. "I can see you just fine."

The other man laughed and, Ianto noticed, didn't actually move away from where he was still pressing Ianto against the wall. Ianto knew it was completely obvious what his reaction to the entire proceedings was; from the gentle rub of a hip, he knew he'd been noticed.

"I gotta errand to run," the man said. "But then I'm free for a couple days."

Ianto just nodded, then stammered out his address.

It wasn't until the man had walked away and Ianto had calmed down enough to walk without injuring himself, that he realised they still didn't know one another's names.

~~~

Two or three times after that, Mr Johnson (#3) had shown up unannounced at Ianto's flat. Ianto had long since done all the research he could, reading over the records of one Eliot Spencer, retrieval specialist for hire.

Eliot's professional dossier hadn't mattered much to Ianto. All that mattered was the way his knees turned a bit soft when Eliot turned up in his living room and gave him that smile. Or the way his throat would be hoarse the next day, or the way he'd close his eyes for weeks afterwards and remember that growl in his ear.

When Ianto rang him, all he said was, "I need your help."

Eliot had shown up the next day and Ianto, barely able to focus, had stammered out what he needed. He'd stashed Lisa and the conversion unit, but time was running short and he simply didn't have any way of getting her to safety.

He explained his plan to Eliot, staring at the wall, seeing only the Cybermen marching, and the flames, and hearing the screams. Seeing Lisa's face--

"Just tell me where you need her to be," Eliot said quietly, and Ianto handed him the blueprints of Torchwood Three.

Afterwards, when they'd got Lisa settled and Ianto felt like maybe he could breathe for the first time in days, he'd turned to Eliot and found his brain finally shifting into gear. This would work, he knew it would.

It had to.

"I don't have cash," Ianto said, and he held out his hand. "But I've got this."

"What is it?" Eliot peered at the slim band of flexible metal.

"A Coruvian Gene-Splicer. It's already been programmed." He felt exhausted, but perhaps that was the last four days spent working and never quite managing sleep.

"Programmed to do what?" Eliot had made no attempt to take it from him; Ianto couldn't tell from Eliot's expression if he'd been better off stealing all the cash from the Torchwood cafeteria's tills.

"It will rewire your body, mostly re-arrange your muscles a bit. Make you stronger, faster. Not into something superhuman, but there will be a noticeable improvement."

"Oh, yeah?" Eliot looked interested, and he took the metal bracelet from Ianto. He looked up sharply. "What's the catch?"

Ianto shrugged. "Your metabolism will speed up. You'll need to eat more, and you'll only need a couple hours of sleep at night. Maybe less."

Eliot smirked. "And that's a bad thing?"

"You'll also burn out faster. Take ten to fifteen years off your life." Torchwood field agents didn't die of old age, so using the gene-splicers had never been an issue.

"A man in my line of work doesn't expect to retire," Eliot said quietly, confirming Ianto's suspicions that his selection of gadgets had been the right one. Eliot slipped it on his wrist and, after a moment, it sank into his skin and vanished from view.

"It will take a few weeks to complete. Oh -- I think...most of the agents who use... used one got cold easily. Seems like most of them wore tuques, even indoors. Complained about the air-con a lot."

Eliot gave him a nod, then started to speak. Ianto just stared at him, wanting nothing more than to fall over. Close his eyes and let himself wake up to find it had been a horrible nightmare, Lisa in bed beside him offering to take away his bad dreams.

He felt Eliot's hand on his cheek, then he was being turned and led away. Eliot took them to a motel, guiding Ianto to the bed. He wanted to protest, then thought better of what could prove to be a welcome distraction. His eyes slipped closed, and when he opened them again it was morning and Eliot was gone.

~~~

He isn't expecting much. Keeping an eye on the news broadcasts from everywhere, focusing on the ones from London. He recognises the hand of Torchwood now and again.

There's nothing he could do. Events so far beyond him that he doesn't even let himself fly to Britain. Staying far away so he wouldn't feel helpless _and_ actually fail at making any difference. He'd long since admitted his focus of the world was narrow. One life at a time, retrieving a stolen object or person and taking payment -- and now, after Nate's corrupting influence, helping make one person's life better with a little justice. And a mound of cash.

He's never been good at the 'saving the world' thing, even if he did come close once or twice.

He watches the news and says nothing about it, and tells himself it's just like Christmas in London. Weird shit happens then everybody gets on with their lives.

It isn't until he sees the obituaries afterwards, that it becomes real.

Eliot shuts the laptop and goes into the other room, finds Hardison racking up the balls at the pool table. He grabs a cue and says nothing, and when he lines up his first shot he finds himself thinking of that smile, the one which melted him at the knees every single time he saw it.


End file.
